Composition of matter and process of forming same



. aienied'oci. 11, '1927.

UNITED v S A ES PATE T OFFICE.

iirAnc DARRIN, orrrr'rsnunen, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR *ro r. N. we: COMPANY 1 LIMITED, or TORONTO, CANADA, A ooRroRATIoN or PROVINCE or ONTARIO,

cANADA.

This invention relates to a composition of matter and a method of manufacturing the same. l

An object of this invention is to provide 5 a composition of matter and articles made from the same which will be strong, durable and rigid and will resist water and many chemical reactions, and will be capable of easyfabrication into useful articles.

ess by which an article may be formed of a material capable of easy fabrication, such as paper pulp, but so associated or combined with a resistant substance, such as sulphur,

that a hard, rigid, resistant article isobtained, capable of being machined or otherwise manipulated. p The invention accordingly comprises the several steps and the relation and order of one ormore of such steps with respect to each of the others, and the I features, properties, and the relation of elements, which are exemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the application of which will be lndlcated'in the claims. 1

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of this invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description:

In accordance with this invention, 1t has been. discovered'that certain substances such as sulphur are capable of imparting to substances which would otherwise be of a porous nature, a remarkable degree of hardness and rigidity and impermeability, while, at the same time making them resistant and capable of ready manipulation as by machlning; more specifically when a fibrous material, such as'cellulose, is combined, associated or impregnated with sulphur, a desirable composition is obtained. The proportion of sulphur contained'in the product may be from 65% to 80% in the case of fully impregnated articles, and correspondingly less in the case of partially impregnated or surface hardened products, the greater part, if not all, of th remainder being fibrous materiaL- For the purpose of causing a thorough mingling with the fibrous material there may be added to the sulphur in the fluid state any one of a variety of substances which are capable of forming with the sulphur a com position which will thoroughly wet the fibers.

Within the broader aspects of this inven- COMPOSITION or MATTER AND rnocnss or assu SAME ED No Drawing. Application fi1ed June 10, 1924, Serial No. 719,959. Renewed March 11, 1927.

A more specific object is to provide a procarticle possessing the tion, the composition may be formed by incorporating the fiber with the sulphur and the introfier in anysuitable manner, as for example,'dry paper fiber may be mixed with sulphur and an introfier and the resultant mass may be molded under heat and pressure. I

For many purposes, however, it is preferred to first fabricate the article from the fibre, as for example, from blown pulp or paper board and subsequently to impregnate it by immersion in the impregnating com-[ pound.

Melted sulphur does not ordinarily possess the property of wetting pulp or penetrating into the fibers, and satisfactory results have not been obtained by the use of solutions of sulphur in the customary solvents.

In accordance with this invention, it has been discovered that a certain class of substances possess the property when added to melted sulphur of reducing the viscosity, causing the solution readily to wet the pulp and increasing the penetrating power. These substances will be herein termed introfiers.

Naphthalene and its derivatives form excellent introfiers and satisfactory results have been .obtainedwith other substances in which the molecule contains a pluralityof cyclic nuclei," as for example, diphenyl, diphenyl methane, benzyl ether. dibenzyl ketone,v fluorene, carbazol, naphthalene, naphtholes, naphthaylamines, tetrahydronaphthalenes, monochloronaphthalenes, dichloronaphthalenes, tric'hloronaphthalenes, tetrachloronaphthalenes, pentachloronaphthalenes and quinoline.

Substances having more than two cyclic nuclei, for example, anthracene, triphenyl methane and triphenylphosphate, possess the property of introfiers, although they are more ditficultly soluble in melted sulphur. Triphenyl phosphate in particular is powerful and while comparatively inexpensive, it produces excellent results.

In many cases the amount of introfier is limited by its solubility in melted sulphur. Naphthalene is quite soluble and can be used in almost any amount desired. As a rule it 105 is not desirable to employ over 10% of this material. Some of the "other introfiers which are less soluble such as anthracene;v and carbazol, are, however, more powerful introfiers per unit weight f t i l 110 used,-very a preciable penetration being obtained wit less than one. per cent. The speed of penetration is reaterw th I "la e, amounts of very solub e mtrofiers 5 sue asjnaphtjhalene and dlphenyl, than with small amounts of more powerful 1ntrofiers. The latterv have the advantage of being practically odorless and non- .volatile. I

By way of illustration, the following /method can be used for impregnating blown pulp articles: First, sulphur may be melted in a kettle or otherwise at a temperature of approximately 130 C. 'Thereu 11 there 15 may be added, for example, 5% o naphtha lene, and the heat may be continued until a homogeneous solution results. It is preferable to efl'ect this solution between the tem eratures of 120 and; 130 C. T e penetration is most satisfactory when the artlcle is free from moisture and whenit contains a mlnlmum' of entrained am For some purposes, therefore, it may be desirable to' perform a separate preliminary step of preheating the article before immersing.

it'in the sulphur bath. In some cases, however, itwill be found that sucha separate step is not required since the temperature of the impregnating. bath itself is suflicient to accomplish the result. 7 Obviously, the speed of penetration will where the moisture is already removed. In either case it'will be found that the fibers of the article will be thoroughly wetted with the sulphur and in the course of a short time a thorou h impregnation will result. For

however,

small articles this result can be accomplishedor less. It varies someip fifteen minutes,

of the article, the

what with the character 40 quantity of the introfier used in the bath, and with the temperature of impregnation. The greatest speed of penetration apparenttllypocurs in the temperature of greatest n1 4;, 125 but for many purposes, it is desirable to effect the impregnation at a slightly higher temperature, as for example, 130 to 135 C.

, The use of the slightly higher temperature assists in bringing up the temperature of the immersed article, and assists in producing a clean impregnated article free from drippings or excess sulphur on the surface.

The explanation of this fact appears to be as follows: As the article cools after. re-

moval from the bath, it passes through a temperature of maximum penetration, causi'ng any excess sulphur clinging to the surace to be absorbed into the interior of the article.

If the impregnation carried on at a lower temperature, it is desirable to raise the temperature to 130 or 135 just prior to or after removal f rom the bat In this manner h penetration o c r at the t ar be greater ditg of melted sulphur between 120 and" ters Patent, is:

1 article in the impregnating bath and withdrawing' before appreciable penetration has occurred. The article may then be heated in an oven at from 125 to 145 0., whereupon the adhering sulphur film will penetrate it;

By the processes herein outlined, articles may be caused to take up a large quantity of sulphur, as for example a blown pulp article may be brought to three to five times its orig nal weight by the impregnatiom' Immediatel after the removal of the pulp articles rom thebath, they may be cut, or otherwiseshaped like hard cheese,but thereafter they become hard, strong and rigid, they can be easily machined and take a high natural polish,- and are non-conductors of electricity. The natural color of the product varlesfrom almost white through a buff colorto brown, depending on the quality of 1 the ingredients and, the temperature to which I stances.

Since certain changes in carrying out the above process, and certain modifications in the composition which embody the invention may be made without departing from its scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the .above description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting Sense.

It is also tof be understood that the followmg clalms are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention, which, as a matter of language, might be said to'fall therebetween.

Having described my invention what I clalm as new and desire tosecureby Letl. A composition of matter comprising chiefly sulphur and having a smaller quantityof cellulose therein and possessing the properties of hardness, strength, impermeabllity and resistivity, being a non-conductor of electricity and capable of being machined.

2. A composition of matter comprising approximately from 20% to 35% cellulose, the remainder being chiefly sulphur, and possessing the properties of hardness, strength, impermeability and resistivity, being a non-conductor of electricity and capable of being machined.

3. A composition of matter comprising approximately from 20% to 35% cellulose the remainder being chiefly sulphur and centei iieg i rq er, the =9 19 tion 130 4. The process of impregnating which comprises subjecting a porous article to the action of molten sulphur at atmospheric pressure and removing the article while at a temperature slightly in excess perature of maximum fluidity of the sulphur without altering the pressure whereby the excess sulphur adhering to the surface upon removal is absorbed into the fibres.

- 5. The process of treating a paper article which comprises subjecting it to the action of a composition of sulphur and an introfier at a temperature higher than that of maximum fluidity of the composition.

6. The process of treating paper which consists in permeating the same with a com position of sulphur and naphthalene.

7. The process of treating paper which consists in permeating the same with a composition of sulphur and an introfier.

of the tem- 8. The. process of treating a blown pulp article which comprises immersing the same in av bath of fluid sulphur and an introfier.

9. The process of treating a blown pulp article which comprises immersing the same in a bath of fluid sulphur and an introfier at a temperature above that of maximum penetration. ,7

10. An article of manufacture comprising a blownpulp article impregnated with sulphur and an introfier.

11. The process of impregnating porous .ccllulosc with sulphur, which comprises subjecting the cellulose to the action of molten sulphur in the presence of an introfier at a temperature below the temperature of detcrioration of the cellulose.

12. The process of treating a cellulose which comprises immersing the same in a composition of sulphur and an introfier at a temperature above that of maximum fluidity of the sulphur.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

' MARC DARRIN. 

